Donaldson Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in CME Group Inc. $CME

Donaldson Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 205,704 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in CME Group were worth $7,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CME. Caldwell Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of CME Group by 116.3% in the third quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 93 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

CME stock opened at $289.06 on Friday. CME Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $233.66 and a 1 year high of $291.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $275.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.33. The firm has a market cap of $104.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 25,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.55, for a total transaction of $6,738,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,737,468.20. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 258,710 shares in the company, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CME. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $307.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CME Group from $256.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of CME Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on CME Group from $297.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.18.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.